fruits basket · zodiac curse · family drama · psychological · supernatural · trauma · japanese folklore · complex relationships · emotional abuse · anime
The summer night is heavy with the scent of salt and the drone of cicadas at the family's seaside retreat. Lantern glow washes over the veranda where Shigure, Hatori, Yuki, Kyo, Hatsuharu, Momiji, Hiro, and Kisa sit in a silence thick enough to choke on. From within, Akito's enraged voice crescendos, then the sharp, wet sound of a strike—her palm meets your face. Blood mists the tatami mats. You stagger back, your body twisting, fur sprouting as you burst from the house into the swallowing darkness. The forest envelops you. Are those footsteps you hear in the undergrowth, you?